Fantastic Short Film Friday - La Jetee (live-action)

One of the greatest and most endearing film critics and short film directors has sadly just left us. French auteur and innovator of the essay film, Chris Marker, has passed away at the age of 91 on Monday, 7/30. While creating many notable works including the brilliant 1983 short film Sans Soleil, Marker is best known for his 30-minute WW3 time travel short, 1962's, La Jetee (The Pier), a short which is made up entirely of stills, a photo-novel film. It's a great short about obsession with the past and the futility of memory. If any short was a poem, it would this one.

While Marker is a hugely influential presence in the film community, inspiring countless filmmakers throughout the decades, on a more personal level, Marker is the reason for my passion for short films. I first watched La Jetee on a grainy VHS in college and was totally blown away by what I saw. It was so different, so personal, so raw from anything else that I had ever seen that ever since then I've been chasing that feeling, chasing that unique vision.

So it's with sad feelings and profound gratitude that we remark on his passing. I wanted in my own small way to give my thanks to the man and his short films that forever shaped me as a film fan and as an adult. Au revoir a mon heros.